Apple threatens to sue makers of uncanny Steve Jobs action figure

If you’re looking to add a certain visionary co-founder of Apple to your Star Wars, He-Man, and Ninja Turtles action figure collection, you may want to act soon. Chinese company In Icons is in hot water with Apple over the sale of a 12-inch Steve Jobs doll that merges Silicon Valley with the Uncanny Valley.

In Icons received a letter from Apple that threatens legal action. Apple believes that it owns the rights to sell Jobs’s likeness, and wants In Icons to stop production immediately.

The Hong Kong businessman who owns In Icons, however, may have other plans. Tandy Cheung recently told ABC News that Apple can do anything it likes, but he isn’t going to stop. He disagrees with Apple’s assessment that it owns the rights to Jobs’s likeness; he says that because Jobs wasn’t an actor — only a celebrity — there is no copyright protection for his likeness.

The one thing everyone agrees on is that the doll looks a lot like Steve Jobs. No detail was spared in creating the figure, which was based on a 2007 image of a still-healthy looking Jobs. It wears his trademark black faux-turtleneck, blue jeans, and New Balance sneakers. There is even an extra pair of hands (for gestures like pointing), and a “One more thing” backdrop. The figure lands squarely in the uncanny valley, where the similarity is just as likely to creep us out as it is to impress us.

The foot-tall figure is still set to go on sale in February for $99, but Apple has the legal muscle to put that in danger. The irony is that if Apple can successfully block the figure’s sales, the quantities that are available could fetch premiums as rare collector’s items. Those wanting to guarantee keynote presentations for an audience of Transformers and My Little Ponies can check eBay for pre-release figures that are running for $140 each.